Is my Axis a lemon?

[mogey5]

My 2015 Axis A22 has been in the shop almost as long as it hasn't. I was one of the lucky ones to have the cracked hull (picture below). I have put less than 100 hours on the boat since then and have had a bad shaft seal leak that started as soon as I got the boat back from Malibu. I had that fixed later, then 20 hours later my V drive locked up. I just got the boat back from that (was in the shop July 4 - September 6, height of the summer) with a $5,500 bill. I spoke with Malibu and they refused to help me out at all on either the shaft seal or V drive.  

Seeking y'all's expertise - when a boat needs a new hull and is rebuilt on that hull, the shaft seal leaks immediately after, then water gets in the V drive locking it up, wouldn't that be a direct cause of how it was rebuilt?

I had a 3 year warranty so that's up. They did warranty the cracked hull, but no help with anything since. Is it reasonable to expect a new warranty when the boat is rebuilt with a new hull?

At this point I'm worried every time I have it on the water that something is going to break. I've seen the 'Service Required' light far too many times. All this is coming from an experienced boat owner. I've been on Lake Austin since 2008, I had a 2005 Tige 22V that literally didn't have any problems for nearly 10 years. 

Timeline since hull repaired (many more issues prior to this as well):
119 hours (2/2017) - cracked hull, at the factory for ~6 months, no loaner boat
173 hours (3/2018) - bad temp skin sensor, strainer leaking (replaced), gelcoat cracked
~190 hours (8/2018) - shaft seal repaired/rebuilt, strainer leaking (replaced again)
212 hours (7/2019) - locked up v drive

I have already talked 2 potential Axis/Malibu boat owners on Lake Austin away from the brand and will keep doing so. It's a shame because the boat's wave is great and the people at Texas Malibu & Malibu I've worked with are very nice; I just wish they put out a better product for me or at least help out where it seems they should.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[granddaddy55]

When people inquire about a 15 a22, first walk through windshield redesign and  pcm motor , I believe?,  I tell them to make sure it doesn’t have your gel coat, Hull,  stringer issue or had been repaired and I thought it had overheating issues you didn’t mention 

yes I would think the seal leak is related to them but how did  the water get in the vdrive ?

yours is the only boat I warn people about because it wasn’t just you who needed a factory rebuild visit 

if I was paying a note enduring all of that I would be upset too!! 

My year , 14’ that only innovated Surfgate , has very debugged simple tech ,  and even the older slower but debugged Malibu ‘13 SG is bullet proof,  thermostat (out of warranty 720 hours) and small valve cover oil leak ( in warranty 150 hours-Indmar 3 year warranty ) and a backwards wired center fill and empty pumps ( under 1 year warranty Malibu 10 hours) is all I ever had go wrong ,  not one of these kept me off the water even one weekend 

your year was a big change year for A22 and it didn’t seem to go well 

[boardjnky4]

2015 boats I thought actually had a recall related to the V-Drive locking up. Something about the breather valve allowing water in or something?

[wakedncsu]

39 minutes ago, boardjnky4 said:

2015 boats I thought actually had a recall related to the V-Drive locking up. Something about the breather valve allowing water in or something?

I know certain 2016 boats had that recall.  I don't remember 2015 being included.

[boardjnky4]

9 minutes ago, wakedncsu said:

I know certain 2016 boats had that recall.  I don't remember 2015 being included.

ah, right

[Eagleboy99]

That crack is a sign of a serious  build issue.  I am struggling to think how that could happen.

[granddaddy55]

6 minutes ago, Eagleboy99 said:

That crack is a sign of a serious  build issue.  I am struggling to think how that could happen.

They were getting spider web like cracks in side of hull due to a separation of stringer from hull that may have been this root cause, I bet it was because they took it back for fix

[COOP]

1 hour ago, boardjnky4 said:

2015 boats I thought actually had a recall related to the V-Drive locking up. Something about the breather valve allowing water in or something?

You would need to contact PCM, not Malibu. 

[Eagleboy99]

https://hindecoder.com/decoder-script.php?MIC=PCM

[mogey5]

3 hours ago, granddaddy55 said:

When people inquire about a 15 a22, first walk through windshield redesign and  pcm motor , I believe?,  I tell them to make sure it doesn’t have your gel coat, Hull,  stringer issue or had been repaired and I thought it had overheating issues you didn’t mention 

yes I would think the seal leak is related to them but how did  the water get in the vdrive ?

yours is the only boat I warn people about because it wasn’t just you who needed a factory rebuild visit 

if I was paying a note enduring all of that I would be upset too!! 

My year , 14’ that only innovated Surfgate , has very debugged simple tech ,  and even the older slower but debugged Malibu ‘13 SG is bullet proof,  thermostat (out of warranty 720 hours) and small valve cover oil leak ( in warranty 150 hours-Indmar 3 year warranty ) and a backwards wired center fill and empty pumps ( under 1 year warranty Malibu 10 hours) is all I ever had go wrong ,  not one of these kept me off the water even one weekend 

your year was a big change year for A22 and it didn’t seem to go well 

Yep, first model with the new windshield and tower design.  I had the overheating issues but all those were fixed pretty early on under warranty, except for the temp sensor issue at 173 hours that was not covered under warranty.

I did check & fill the vdrive fluid around 170 hours, and that was the last time until it locked up.  The mechanic who replaced the vdrive wasn't able to diagnose how the water got in.

Thanks all for your feedback!

[granddaddy55]

1 hour ago, mogey5 said:

Yep, first model with the new windshield and tower design.  I had the overheating issues but all those were fixed pretty early on under warranty, except for the temp sensor issue at 173 hours that was not covered under warranty.

I did check & fill the vdrive fluid around 170 hours, and that was the last time until it locked up.  The mechanic who replaced the vdrive wasn't able to diagnose how the water got in.

Thanks all for your feedback!

So you avoided the stringer issues ,  your a normal wear and break user but bit more than the older tech that almost seems bulletproof

[mogey5]

3 hours ago, COOP said:

You would need to contact PCM, not Malibu. 

I'm guessing there isn't any way they'd help me out since there's 212 hours on the vdrive and they wouldn't take into account the hull rebuild..

Edited September 10, 2019 by mogey5

[COOP]

2 hours ago, mogey5 said:

I'm guessing there isn't any way they'd help me out since there's 212 hours on the vdrive and they wouldn't take into account the hull rebuild..

It would be a bit of a hail Mary. They might, it would be worth a call. Looks like the powertrain had a 3yr warranty. 

 

 

 

[Nitrousbird]

I'm not understanding how you paid $5500 for a Vdrive replacement.  A pro shop could have likely rebuilt it for under $1000.  Even at 10 hours labor (isn't that much to swap a Vdrive) @ $120/hr, we are talking under $2500.  I bet they bought a new one AND kept your core too, charging full retail for everything and took 2 months to do it.  I'd find a new dealer.

[mogey5]

2 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

I'm not understanding how you paid $5500 for a Vdrive replacement.  A pro shop could have likely rebuilt it for under $1000.  Even at 10 hours labor (isn't that much to swap a Vdrive) @ $120/hr, we are talking under $2500.  I bet they bought a new one AND kept your core too, charging full retail for everything and took 2 months to do it.  I'd find a new dealer.

Yep, I paid $4,600 for the new vdrive, then taxes & 4 hours of labor.  They kept the core as well (I'm able to get it back - should I?).  I didn't realize it could be rebuilt.

 

Edited September 11, 2019 by mogey5

[shawndoggy]

Is there any place you HAVEN’T posted this story?

[mogey5]

9 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

Is there any place you HAVEN’T posted this story?

lol, I'm getting good/different feedback from each forum.

[boardjnky4]

The V-Drive units are brutally overpriced when purchased as a replacement part from both PCM and Indmar.

The vdrive cost should be half that.

[Eagleboy99]

Aren't the V-drives just stock items rebranded?

[justgary]

8 hours ago, mogey5 said:

The mechanic who replaced the vdrive wasn't able to diagnose how the water got in.

Huh?  Oh, yeah.  He would rather spend the time fleecing you than actually working.

4 hours ago, Nitrousbird said:

I'd find a new dealer.

Perhaps the best suggestion so far.  I would have hoped that the dealer would work on getting a letter from Malibu stating that your warranty was suspended because of their workmanship, and then would help you get the V drive done under warranty.

[mogey5]

14 hours ago, mogey5 said:

Yep, I paid $4,600 for the new vdrive, then taxes & 4 hours of labor.  They kept the core as well (I'm able to get it back - should I?).  I didn't realize it could be rebuilt.

 

I just spoke with a shop that said they rebuild vdrives for $800-900, but PCM usually doesn't sell the parts necessary to rebuild so people have to buy whole new replacement vdrives from them.

[Eagleboy99]

Doesn't PCM just paint Walther or Hurth v-drives?

[Axisspawn]

A22 2015 amazbuckets! I found the same crack. Thank you Malibu. I have had a very enjoyable last 2 months of the summer. i have been boating since 1994 and have never seen this before. 

 

[mogey5]

On 9/19/2019 at 11:53 PM, Axisspawn said:

A22 2015 amazbuckets! I found the same crack. Thank you Malibu. I have had a very enjoyable last 2 months of the summer. i have been boating since 1994 and have never seen this before. 

Sorry to hear!  I'm surprised it took this long, I'm guessing all A22s will have this happen at some point...  Sorry for more bad news, but that is the same color as my boat and Malibu had to special order that paint which added another month to the rebuild.  Hopefully they learned that lesson for you.

[Axisspawn]

the shop had to order special that paint.Fun time